Ferroelectric domain structures in lead free piezoelectric ceramics composed of Bi-layer structured SrBi4Ti4O15

The domain switching and rotation in Bi-layer structured ceramics were evaluated by investigating the poling field and pulse response dependences of the ferroelectric properties. The effect of domain clamping on electromechanical coupling factor and dielectric constant at the coercive field was confirmed in Bi-layer structured ceramics as well as in the cases of soft and hard tetragonal lead zirconate titanate, lead titanate and barium titanate ceramics. The minimum frequency constant due to domain rotations was also observed in Bi-layer structured ceramics. The remanent polarization and coercive field increased linearly with increasing the pulse field, Although relatively high DC fields up to 10.0 kV mm(-1) could be applied to the ceramics, the P-E hysteresis loop showed a round figure. Furthermore, the oriented polarization by DC poling was highly stable in the ceramics, even though a high bipolar pulse was applied. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.